Latin American Leftists Militias #
In light of the Colombia situation, Slate’s Explainer offered a good bit of relevant history that I was somewhat surprised by:
With the exception of two militia movements that successfully seized and retained power—Fidel Castro’s 26th of July movement in Cuba and, 20 years later, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua—most of Latin America’s armed groups were defeated by their nations’ governments years ago. The FARC has endured because the cocaine trade in Colombia has become a huge source of revenue for the group—by some estimates, $250 million to $500 million a year, or at least half of its income. The other major leftist insurgent group that remains active in Latin America today is also Colombian: the National Liberation Army, or the ELN. Drug money helped this smaller group endure as well, though it may make up only one-tenth of ELN’s income; kidnapping and extortion provide the bulk.